LIKE FIRE AND ICE
by BoogeeSilver
Summary: AU (everyone's HUMAN) Spike is a Private Eye. The best LA has ever known. He doesn't give a crap about rules and apperances. His life turns upside down when he gets a case from a certain Blonde woman, who thinks him rude and beneath her.
1. ONE

Author's Notes: This is an AU story... you know the drill - no vamps, slayers, hellmouth and such. Just two regular people who drive each other nuts. The story is a joined effort of Boogee and Silver. How did it come to be, you ask? Well... In the beginning there was nothing... a vast space... OK, let's skip that part... Boogee came up with the idea... Silver threw in her ideas... Boogee approved... Silver wrote an outline... Boogee supplied it with some details... Silver took over and filled in the blanks and added more details... then Boogee snatched it out of her hands and squeezed in even more details... and voila! You have a story!  
  
Summary: William 'Spike' Whirlington is the best at what he does. He cracks every single case he gets within days, and doesn't give a crap about the rules. His methods leave a lot to be wished for but he always gets the work done. That is until he gets a case from hell... and with it a client, who gets on his last nerves.  
  
Rating: PG-13 for the 'F' word. Will eventually become R.  
  
Spoilers: None whatsoever. This is completely AU, where there are so Slayers or Vampires. No Hellmouth either.  
  
Disclaimers: The characters of BTVS and ATS belong to Joss Wheldon and Mutant Enemy  
  
Feedback: Pretty please, silverflakez@earthlink.net (Silver) and vdw@nuvox.net (Boogee)  
  
  
  
Fire and Ice By Silver & Boogee  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Detective William "Spike" Whirlington sat in his office going through papers from the case he was currently working on. A woman had been murdered. It was as clear as a cloudless sky that the husband of a said victim was the murderer. His testimony made no sense, he spoke with a dreadful calmness, and his alibi was not very reliable. Spike nodded to himself, deep in thought, as he re-read it again. Everything now made sense, in a not-making-any-sense kind of way. All he had to do now was to prove that the supposedly broken with grief husband was a lying bastard, and the case would be closed. But it was easier said than done.  
  
The door to Spike's office opened and a young, blonde woman walked in carrying a tray with fresh cup of steamy cocoa, a box of white tiny marshmallows and a plate of chocolate chip cookies. She approached the desk and set it down in front of him, leaning over slightly and 'accidentally' exposing her cleavage. Spike, however, didn't even bother lifting his head from the papers as the young woman tried in vain to get his attention. He just murmured a quiet 'Thank you, Harmony,' too preoccupied with the case.  
  
She sighed loudly and shook her head in defeat leaving him to his work. Just as she was about to open the door and step out, she remembered something.  
  
"Oh. There's a call for you on line three. It's Dru."  
  
It was obvious by the way she said it that she didn't care for the woman too much. She had been harboring a crush on Spike ever since he came to The States five years ago and was determined to let him know what her feelings for him, and in that situation, for his girlfriend, were.  
  
He was an extremely handsome, British man, but he wasn't the usual stereotypical British type that you would think of. He always wore blue jeans to work, even though his superiors did not approve. That and, along with his bleached blond hair, he was dead sexy. But they did overlooked his quirks because he was so good at what he did. He worked extremely hard on every case that was assigned to him. Like now. He was so focused on what he was reading he didn't hear her.  
  
"Huh?" He asked, looking up from his desk.  
  
Harmony was standing by the door, her short mini skirt exposing her tanned long legs and the top showing off her best features. Spike had to force himself from rolling his eyes at the way she dressed. It was so obvious that she was trying to get his attention. He hated obvious women. They weren't challenging enough for him.  
  
She sighed when she saw his lack of interest with her in his eyes and answered the question.  
  
"It's your girlfriend, sir. Do you want me to tell her you are in a meeting?"  
  
He knew she didn't like her. Well, for that matter nobody in the agency liked her. And sometimes he wondered himself why he was with her. He shook his head and let out a deep sigh.  
  
"Bloody hell," were the first words out of his mouth. "No, I'll take it luv, put her through."  
  
She nodded and walked out of the office closing the doors behind her.  
  
"Dru," he said into the phone when he picked it up. "Is something wrong, why are you calling me here?" He asked not really wanting her to answer.  
  
"Hey baby, what's the matter? I can't call you at work to tell you how much I love you?" He heard her almost squeaking voice through the earpiece and flinched involuntary.  
  
"It's just that you know I don't like you calling me here, luv. Not at the place where I earn my paycheck."  
  
They had a big fight the night before. It was becoming a habit between them. And as always it was about the same thing. She wanted to get married, he didn't. They'd only been dating for eight months now, and he just wasn't ready. It was a big step for him, and besides, he always considered himself not to be the marrying type. Of course he didn't tell her that. There were things she simply couldn't understand about him, and that was one of them. So, she kept with the yammering about the marriage, and how her biological clock was ticking, and her kept on rolling his eyes and tuning her out. Sometimes it wasn't even worth explaining things to her.  
  
"Well I just wanted to call and apologize for the fight we had last night since you weren't gonna do it." She said.  
  
"Look, you know this is not the time or place to talk about this. Wait until I get home, then we'll talk about it, alright?"  
  
Spike was getting a little irritated with her, but was trying to stay calm so not to make a scene in front of his colleagues. After all, his office had glass walls and he was practically exposed to the world.  
  
"Spike," she called him.  
  
"Hey, I thought I told you to never bloody call me that," he hissed into the receiver.  
  
He really hated her calling him by his nick-name. That honor was reserved for his closest friends only. At this point in their relationship, they were far from friends.  
  
"I'm hanging this phone up right now, and I don't want you to ever call me here again. Do you understand me?!"  
  
He was fuming inside. How could three minutes on the phone with his girlfriend make him so mad? He couldn't understand it.  
  
"Fine," she bit back. "No wait, that's not fine. See here 'Spike'... ," she made sure to put some emphasis on his name just to piss him off that much more. "I don't know what the fuck your problem is but I'm getting tired of it. And if you don't start to change your ways with me, then we're through."  
  
"Fine!" was all he said to her before he slammed down the phone.  
  
When he looked up, all eyes in the agency were staring at him. He stalked to the glass wall, the icy look in his eyes.  
  
"OK people, go about your bloody business!" he yelled, yanking the blinds down to hide himself from the curious looks.  
  
He said that word a lot -bloody- when he was angry. And talking to her made it just another day for him, a long bloody day.  
  
  
  
tbc... 


	2. TWO

Like Fire And Ice by Boogee and Silver  
  
Chapter 2:  
  
  
  
Spike was sitting behind his desk, elbows propped, head buried in his hands. He was currently trying to will his headache away, caused by Dru's another uncontrollable behavior. He was getting those every time he heard her whining, and was seriously considering moving out this time. Enough is enough, he thought as he slowly rubbed his aching temples, letting out a quiet sigh. His head jerked up when a familiar English accent came over the intercom of his phone.  
  
"Spike, could you come into my office please?"  
  
It was his boss, Rupert Giles. Spike and Giles have been close friends ever since he was a little lad. His father was also a police officer who happened to be Giles' partner many years ago. They both were best buds for years, and Spike got to love Giles like a second father. After an unfortunate accident which left him and his only sister, Valerie, orphans, Giles took them under his wings. Spike was only 13 years old then, but he knew from that moment on that he wanted to be like his father. He wanted to help people and he swore to himself that he will be the best at it. Now, almost 15 years later he was just that. In every little detail - starting on the father-like features, which made him almost irresistible to the female part of the population, to the stubbornness and wits his father was so respected for.  
  
Spike shook his head pushing the still painful memories of his father to the far corner of his mind and reached out to the intercom.  
  
"On my way, give me a sec."  
  
He answered as he pushed the button on the phone panel. He took in a couple of deep breaths to clear his mind of Dru, then pulled himself up and casually stroke out of his office, letting the long black duster - the only precious thing left after his father - flow after him.  
  
After a brief knock on the door followed by a quite 'come in', Spike entered the room and caught site of a blonde woman sitting with her back to him in the chair across from Giles. He furrowed his brow at Giles who at this moment chose to look at him and motioned to Spike to close the door and come in, sending him a big grin.  
  
"Ah. William," In front of clients they call each other by their respected names, "Come in, please. I want you to meet Mrs. Elizabeth Nelson," he held out his hand toward the woman, "She is going to be the new case assigned to you. Mrs. Nelson, this is our best man - William Whirlington."  
  
The said woman turned around to face him for the first time and he momentarily thought her very young and extremely beautiful. She was no more than 22... 23 years old and judging by the outfit she wore, very, very wealthy. Her golden blond locks were loosely pinned on top of her head and she wore a gold pin in her hair to keep them from falling on her young, almost childish-like face.  
  
"Nice to meet you...Mrs. Nelson is it?" Spike flashed her one of his trade mark grins and held out his and to her.  
  
The look she gave him at that moment could kill any good conversation. She was obviously not satisfied with his appearance and the way he was looking at her made her shudder. She felt like she was some kind of an exhibit in a museum. The way he was dressed to work was simply outrageous to her and at this moment she highly doubted that he was really as good as Mr. Giles told her. He obviously was rude, had no manners whatsoever and was probably a typical male who had no respect for females. However Mr. Giles has told her that Detective William Whats-His-Name was the best in his agency and she was really scared and needed help. So, she just went as far as giving him a cold glare and slightly raised eyebrows, then sighed and shook his hand.  
  
"How do you do, Mr. Whirlington."  
  
She answered shortly, then withdrew her hand and proceeded to wipe it in a handkerchief she just fished out of her leather purse. Spike raised an eyebrow at that and looked at Giles who just shrugged.  
  
Giles spoke up. "William, Mrs. Nelson's father is missing and presumed dead. I want you to help her find him. Take her into your office and see what you can do, alright?" Then he turned to Elizabeth, who was still sitting in her chair. "Mrs. Nelson, I am living you in good hands. William is our best detective. He will do anything to help you with your problem. Please, tell him anything he needs to know and trust us. We will find your father."  
  
She stood up gathered her purse.  
  
"Thank you for your help, Mr. Giles. I very much appreciate it. And I hope you will be able to find my daddy. After all, I am paying you a ridicules amount of money. Good day."  
  
Having said that she walked to the door, leaving both men stunned and too shocked to speak. She stopped shortly and loudly cleared her throat indicating that she would like to leave the office.  
  
Spike shoot Giles an evil glare that said 'I'm going to get you for this, old man' and walked to the door, opening it for her.  
  
"After you, my lady." He said bowing deeply and she rolled her eyes to heavens sighing loudly, and walking out.  
  
Spike was right behind her and pointed to the door to his office where she immediately turned to, and followed, once again opening the door for her and motioning to 'please come in'. When she walked in leaving him behind, he managed to roll his eyes to the passing Harmony and then walked in closing the door behind him.  
  
  
  
She stepped into the room and looked around. What a mess, she thought to herself. Not only was his way of dressing leaving a lot to be wished for, but his office is in total disarray. The case files were covering half of his desk, which, by the way was made out of some cheap kind of wood, she noticed. She didn't even recognized the type, it must have been one of those really cheap ones. The ones she was not interested with. To the right was a bookcase filled with different kind of well read books, judging by the look and the way the binds were almost broken in half. To the left stood a lonely ficus plant which was dusty and probably not watered for at least 2 weeks. The office itself was way too small for her likes and the window was situated on the wrong wall. She also hated the wallpaper, the rug on the floor and the awful creamy blinds which were covering the whole wall behind her, cutting them off from the curious looks of the other employees.  
  
Spike startled her out of her thought. "Have a seat pet, and tell me how can I help you?" He pointed to the chair.  
  
She gave him a hard glare. "You can start by not calling me 'pet'. " She answered coldly. "My name is Mrs. Elizabeth Anne Summers-Nelson, but if your English mind can't remember that much, you can call me Mrs. Nelson. And I would appreciate if you put that down." She pointed to the cigarette he was about to light. "I hate the smell of smoke. It's disgusting and it ruins the health. Thank you."  
  
Spike merely raised an eyebrow at that, but complied. At least to the smoking part. If she was being such an uptight bitch then he will show her how bloody fun he could be. She would be cursing the day she walked into his office and order him around. He would not be ordered. Especially by a woman. He smirked to himself. This would be so much fun.  
  
"Can I offer you a cookie Buffy...you don't mind if I call you Buffy do you? It's just that you look more like a Buffy than an Elizabeth to me, luv."  
  
He made sure to accent the last word and almost burst out laughing when he saw her shocked expression. That's what he expected. A prissy, spoiled uptight bitch.  
  
She was outraged. "Excuse me?!"  
  
He laughed under his breath, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. That was really, really rude of me." He lied through his smiling teeth. "What can I help you with?"  
  
She decided to let it go for the simple fact that the nice older man, Mr. Giles or something, had told her that William was the best at what he did, and she needed his help.  
  
"Well, like Mr. Giles told you, my daddy is missing. He's been missing for about a year and a half now, nobody has heard from him since then. He just disappeared one day and never came back. We were searching and searching, but the police couldn't find anything. I miss him so much sometimes." She sighed and reached out for her ever-present white silk handkerchief to wipe her running nose with. " I am sorry, Mr. Whirlingtron. I didn't mean to cry like that." She sniffed. "God, that's so embarrassing."  
  
Spike watched her closely piecing bits of information she was giving him. Missing father? He would need to contact Valerie at her office. Maybe she would pull out a case file for him. He scrabbled a mental note to call his sister, and when Buffy finally stopped sniffing, he motioned for her to continue.  
  
"Anyway, about 4 months ago I started finding some of his personal belongings around my house. Things that were very dear to him and were currently locked in the storage in his beach house in Miami. Things, that only I have a key to."  
  
Spike cocked his head at that. "What kind of things? If I may ask?"  
  
Buffy opened her purse and pulled out some items.  
  
"I brought some of them with me. Here is his gold pocket watch his father gave him." She laid it on the desk and Spike took it and examined it. "And here is a picture of the both of us when I was a little girl."  
  
"Are you sure you put these things in storage pet? He asked her. "You couldn't have left them lying about and don't remember?"  
  
"Are you accusing me of lying?" She raised her voice at that.  
  
"Sorry sweetcheeks," he laughed under his breath. "but these are routine questions I have to ask in order to get the situation as clear as possible. Don't be offended by it."  
  
She sighed, "I also think someone is following me too."  
  
He raised his eyebrow to that.  
  
"What do you mean following you, and where?"  
  
"Around town, anywhere I go. I have this dreadful feeling that someone's following me. But every time I look around there's no one there. As soon as I turn back the feeling comes back. It's almost... haunting..." She said that last word with an absent look in her eyes, as if she was trying to remember how it felt.  
  
"Do you have any ideas on who you think it is?" He asked her.  
  
She looked at him, not really sure she should tell him who she thinks it is, then finaly deciding that it would be better if he knew.  
  
"I think it's my father."  
  
Spike's eyes widened and started to laugh at her.  
  
"What? Didn't you just tell me he was missing?" He leaned over the desk to get closer to her and whispered to her: "He can't be missing if he's out following you around, pet."  
  
"You don't get it do you? All his personal items just appearing in my house out of nowhere?" She indicated the objects Spike carelessly thrown on the desk. Then she looked at him so intensively he had to back up to his chair. "He's missing and probably dead, and I think it is his spirit that is following me."  
  
He saw that she was dead serious and his brows furrowed.  
  
"Look pet. I don't think the police is where you need to be coming for help on this matter. Maybe you need a psychic or something, if you believe in that sorta crap." He told her casually.  
  
She gave him the evil eye.  
  
"Believe me, this is the last place I wanted to be, here with you. I've been to those other places, they just don't have the resources that you people have, to be able to find someone. I just want to know what happened to my daddy. Is he still alive or dead. I want a peace of mind. I want..." She stopped, dabbing her watery eyes again.  
  
"You're right, I'm sorry. We'll do everything we can to help you." He stated calming her down a bit.  
  
"Now again, don't be offended luv, but are you married?" He new he made the mistake as soon as he looked at her eyes.  
  
"Were you raised by wolves or something!?" She was fuming. "I told you to call me Mrs. Nelson, and yes I am happily married to a wonderful man. His name is Angel, we've been married for 3 years now, he's older than me, I meet him through my father. Is that enough information for you?! Or maybe you would like to know about our sexual life too?"  
  
She blushed a bit at that. What on earth made her say that?! Must be his presence. The man would bring out the devil in Pope himself.  
  
'Angel, what the hell kind of bloody poofter name is that', he thought to himself. Well, it couldn't get any worse so...  
  
"What kind of name is Angel, I mean is it his nickname or something? I have to get these names straight if I'm going to interview everybody."  
  
That did it. Elizabeth stood up violently and stalked to the door. She turned back before she opened it though.  
  
"Good. Day. Mister. Whirlington." She grit through her teeth. "I will be back tomorrow to see what you have found, if anything at all."  
  
And with that, she walked out the door, slamming it behind her.  
  
Spike propped his legs on the desk, and leaned back in his chair, grinning like a mad man as he congratulated himself on a job well done. The uptight bint was sharp as a knife and definitely a challenging one, and he buried himself in thoughts of her tiny cute ass, as he planned his next move. He was so engrossed in his thoughts he didn't hear Harmony walk in and he crashed to the floor with the chair, when she startled him with her squeaking voice.  
  
"Bloody hell, HARMONY !!!!"  
  
  
  
*********  
  
Giles was shuffling through the mass of papers Spike deposited on his desk the day before, trying to figure out the beginning and the end of the 35- page report on the previous case, when heard the knock on his door.  
  
"Ah, yes. Come in."  
  
The door opened with Spike standing there with one hand leaning on the outside wall and his head cocked to the other side.  
  
"You gave me a loony, you know that don't you?"  
  
He pushed himself off the wall, walked in and sat in the chair throwing his feet on Giles' desk nd pushing himself back a little.  
  
"Bleeding cuckoo!!" He tapped his head with a finger.  
  
Giles couldn't help but chuckle.  
  
"That bad huh? Funny she didn't seem" He tapped his temple. "cuckoo to me. And get your feet off of the desk before someone sees you." He pointed out.  
  
Spike let out a loud sigh, dropped his feet to the floor and ran a hand through his platinum white hair.  
  
"Pops, she said she is seeing ghosts!"  
  
He jumped up out of the chair scaring Giles in the process and started pacing around the room. "She told me she thinks someone is following her, and get this..." he stopped in front of the desk and leaned over to Giles. "...she thinks it's her father!"  
  
Giles took off his glasses and laid them on the desk.  
  
"Interesting, very interesting." He murmured, then pulled out a handkerchief and started cleaning them. "Well, what did you tell her?" He said as he put his glasses back on.  
  
"I laughed at her," He folded his arms in front if him. "Told her she needed a bloody psychic and I'm sure that a nice expensive therapy would do miracles."  
  
Giles looked at him in disbelief.  
  
"You know Spike, I love you like a son, but sometimes I don't understand the way you think." Spike grinned at that.  
  
"I love you too Giles. And don't worry I told her we would help her. See I'm not all that bad."  
  
He smirked and wriggled his eyebrow at him. Then walked over to him and gave him a little pat on the back.  
  
"See you at dinner, pops." He threw in and walked out, his ever-present duster blowing behind him.  
  
  
  
TBC  
  
Comments? Send feedback to Silver ( silverflakez@earthlink.net ) and Boogee ( vdw@nuvox.net ) 


	3. THREE

LIKE FIRE AND ICE - chapter 3:  
  
  
  
Spike was back in his office sitting in his chair and thinking up the plan. First he needed to contact Val. She would help him with the 'missing father' case. And maybe while she was at it, he could have her look into this "Angel" guy. He nodded absently and grabbed a cookie from the tray Harm brought him before, bit into it and dialed the familiar number. It rang several times before someone answered it.  
  
"Los Angeles Police Department, how can I help you?"  
  
"Yes. I need to speak to Captain Valerie Whirlington from the Homicide, please. This is William Whirlington." Spike answered to the operator.  
  
"One moment please." The voice on the other end spoke.  
  
He heard the line click then "This is Whirlington." The female voice said.  
  
"Hey sis. Miss me?" Spike started.  
  
"Like a rain in London." Valerie answered sarcastically. "How's my favorite older brother doing?"  
  
"Hungry." He supplied shortly sinking his teeth into another cookie. He heard a sweet laugh on the other side of the phone. "You?" he prompted with his mouth full.  
  
She sighed. "Two more murders today. I hate this town. Sometimes I wonder why I let you drag me here," she laughed to him.  
  
Spike laughed back to her. "Ah, you know you bloody well like it. Otherwise, you would have left long ago. We all now how stubborn you are."  
  
"Gee, and I wonder where I learned that? Must have chosen a bad person to look up to," she said, teasing him slightly. "Now, seriously. What do you need this time, Spike."  
  
"Oh, come on sis. Can't an older brother call his beloved sister from time to time and ask about her well being?" he asked in a false shock.  
  
"Right," Val answered skeptically. "The only time you call me, Spike, is either when you need me to snoop around in the police case files, or when you're hungry and you want to invite yourself in for a free dinner. So, which one is it this time, brother?"  
  
Spike felt so sheepish at this moment. His little sis was too damn smart for him. She figured him out within two minutes. He sighed loudly and cursed under his breath.  
  
"Bloody Hell... Oh, alright. Listen, I need a favor from you pet." He ran a hand through his thick platinum hair as he spoke to her.  
  
"Anything, you name it," she said to him. Spike knew he could count on her for anything.  
  
"I have this case I'm working on and I need some of your resources for some information." She continued to listen. "I need to find a missing person...well, I think he's missing."  
  
"What do you mean by that?" she questioned him. "You're either missing, or your not. Make up your bloody mind!" Val sighed. Yep. Definitely the wrong person to look up to.  
  
"This woman came into my office yesterday and said that her father was missing and she wanted our help finding him. But then she also says she thinks someone is following her - and guess who she thinks it is?" Spike paused dramatically.  
  
"Who?"  
  
Spike held his breath for a few seconds and blurted out, "Her father!"  
  
Val couldn't help but laugh. "What? Are you serious? How can someone be missing and follow her around at the same time? Bloody weird woman. She a loony or something?" she asked.  
  
"Hah! I thought the same thing. Anyway his name is Hank Summers. See what you can find about him, what kinds of enemies he had...you know the drill. Oh and ah, while you're at it, see what you can find out about the name Angel Nelson too." He wanted to see what was up with him.  
  
Val was writing just as fast as her brother could talk.  
  
"Summers... Nelson... Angel? What kind of a poofter name is that?" she exclaimed to the phone.  
  
Spike laughed out loud. God, they were so alike.  
  
"Thanks sis. You're a doll. I'll get back to you later and see what you've found. Before I forget, Pops and I are having dinner tonight at my place, why don't you stop by?"  
  
"Oh, I am so there. Oh wait, on second thought....you cooking?" She giggled at him.  
  
"Ha, bloody, ha. Very funny, am I never gonna live that down?" Spike put his face into his hand.  
  
"Well it's not everyday you almost burn down the house trying to make a grilled cheese sandwich. Hey, you know I love ya. See you then."  
  
And with that she hung up the phone.  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
Valerie looked on her notes once again. Hank Summers... the name sounded familiar to her... And Angel Nelson? Must be a real pootfer, she thought shaking her head and giggling to herself as she made her way down to the Archive Room in the basement of the building.  
  
She didn't notice the tall dark man peeking from behind the wall, observing her curiously.  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
"Hey Charlie, how's the family?" Valerie asked the man at the Archive desk. "Has your daughter had the baby yet?"  
  
The man looked at her handing her the form to sign. "Any day now," he answered, a huge grin spreading on his chubby face. " I can't wait. I'm going to be a grandpa! I've never been grandpa before."  
  
She wrote down her name and the case file number she was looking for and gave it back to him.  
  
"You not ready for marriage yet? Cause my nephew - who is VERY handsome." He made sure to put an accent on the word 'very' widening his eyes a bit, "...would love to meet you." He already knew the answer, but he loved teasing her about it anyway.  
  
She knew what Charlie's idea of 'handsome' was. She still remembered the one time she let him set her up with one of his 'handsome nephews'. She only agreed because he was literally following her around, practically begging her to go. She finally said yes and was cursing herself and her 'bloody poofy heart' all the way to the restaurant.... then during the whole 'appendix removal' story... and then the 'fascinating' conversation about 'this year's changes in the tax law'.  
  
Val shook her head forcing the horrifying images out of her head and grinned back at him with the same trademark raised eyebrow as Spike.  
  
"Not me buddy, I love my freedom to much."  
  
Charlie shrugged and stood up from behind his desk, turning to open the door to the Archive Room. He was a short, plump man with a balding head and brown eyes. He was about 55 years old and one of the nicest men Val ever had a chance to meet. He opened the door to the huge room filled with 50 years worth of case files and motioned for her to go in, and locking it behind her as the procedure required.  
  
  
  
****  
  
Charlie was sitting behind his desk, looking through the papers when a loud cough followed by 'Ahem' sounded, startling him and causing him to drop the files. He quickly looked up to find a tall dark haired man in his late twenties and sighed in relief.  
  
"Xand, man. You scared the shit out of me!" He shook his head. "Don't you EVER sneak up on an older man like that."  
  
Lieutenant Alexander Harris grinned at him and bent over to retrieve the files Charlie dropped. Putting them back on the man's desk, he smiled warmly.  
  
"What's up Charlie?"  
  
"Looks like I'm the popular one today." The man sighed and sat down at his desk again. "What can I do for you, Lieutenant?"  
  
"Yeah... uhmm... I need a scoop into some files... the case I'm currently working on seems awfully familiar and I need to check something out. I don't really remember the case name..." Xander scratched his head trying to remember the name. "Something like Broderick..? Brokenstick..? Don't really remember. It was a 1994 murder case."  
  
"Sure. Let me check the computer files, see what I will come up with and narrow it down for you," Charlie said and turned his chair to the computer.  
  
Xander waited until the man turned then leaned over quickly and scanned the entry form, keeping a careful eye on the man's back. Once he found Valerie's name he grinned to himself, then frowned slightly.  
  
Charlie turned back with a printed list of about 30 different names and handed it to Xander, who was looking around, bored.  
  
"There you go, Xand. Sorry, but that's the best I could do."  
  
He handed him the sheet and Xander groaned before thanking him and heading back to his office.  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
"Nothing. There is nothing in his files. It's just too clean I tell ya."  
  
Val was on the phone with Spike, filling him on the Nelson/Summers case. "Either he's a goody-goody two shoes, who never got a speeding ticket in his life... or he has someone here cleaning up his messes."  
  
Spike sighed loudly into the receiver.  
  
"Yeah, that does sound strange. I think I'll just pay this Angel a visit tomorrow, and see if I can get anything off him," he told his sister.  
  
"I think that's a good idea, big brother. You go do what you do best, annoy the hell out of people." She couldn't help but snicker when he gasped for air.  
  
"Why sis, what ever are you talking about!" He snickered too. "What about her father, what did you find on him?"  
  
"Hank Summers...nothing really, just the usual stuff you would find. Tickets, court appearances. And the man was loaded. He had money coming out his ass."  
  
Spike chuckled a little, "That would explain her snotty attitude," he told her.  
  
"That bad, huh?" she questioned him.  
  
Spike sat back in his chair and rubbed his hand across his chest.  
  
"You have no idea."  
  
"Alright Spike, if that's all, I've got work to do other than yours." She started laughing even though she knew he was the hardest working man she knew.  
  
"Ok, so I'll see you tonight then, bye. Oh. You mind bringing a bottle of wine with you? I've kind of run out." He bit his lower lip waiting for her to start her ranting.  
  
"Sure... why not... I always do anyway..." She sighed. "See you at dinner, brother."  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
Xander paced back and forth between the walls of his office trying to decide his next move. Things were starting to get a bit complicated and he needed to quiet it down again. He cursed under his breath as he picked up the phone and dialed a number. He waited a moment before a voice on the other side answered then, carefully looking around one more time, he sighed.  
  
"Yeah. We might have a bit of a problem..."  
  
  
  
  
  
tbc...  
  
  
  
please feedback! Makes us all gooey inside!  
  
Silver & Boogee 


	4. FOUR

Chapter 4:  
  
  
  
  
  
Buffy walked into her house with a huge smile on her face and new hope in her heart. Maybe this time they will find her father. She cursed herself for being so stupid almost two years ago and trust the police to find him. They were lazy and they probably didn't give a rat's ass about her dad. She should've hired a detective in the first place. He at least took it more personally, because he was being paid for what he found, not by an hour like those doughnut-eating morons from the LAPD.  
  
  
  
Today she was happy. There was hope, and she would cling to it for her dear life. Even if she had to spend her last penny, she would not give up until a hard evidence of her father's fate will be set before her eyes.  
  
Mr. Whirlington's appearance and his rudeness were making her feel a bit uncomfortable and doubtful, but Mr. Giles has assured her that William was their best detective. Not only THEIR beast, but LA's best.  
  
She was still smiling to herself when she noticed one of the maids standing in the corner, waiting for her.  
  
"Good evening Mrs. Nelson," She said as she ran up to her. "Mr. Nelson wanted me to inform you that you are to meet him in the library when you return." She took her coat off and hung it in the hall closet.  
  
Buffy arched her brow.  
  
"Thank you Edith, tell him I will be there in a minute." She said as she walked away to her bedroom first, mentally preparing herself for what was about to happen.  
  
**  
  
Angel was sitting in the big sofa chair that sat in the far corner facing the door so he could see her come in. He still had on his dress slacks and his button up shirt was no longer buttoned. The whiskey bottle that sat beside him was almost empty, and so was his glass. He reached over to pour himself more when Buffy walked into the room.  
  
"Hey honey, how has your day been? You wanted to see me?"  
  
Angel slouched forward in his chair with his elbows on his thighs. "Where the hell have you been." He groaned at her in a low growling voice.  
  
She walked over to him putting her hand on his back and started to rub him gently. "Baby, is something wrong? Did we have a bad day?" She asked him in her best little girl voice.  
  
He jerked out of her hands and jumped up and threw the glass of whiskey across the room, startling Buffy causing her to back away from him. He slowly turned to her and asked again. "I asked you, where have you been?"  
  
"Calm down honey, I was just out shopping, wasting time." She lied to him openly.  
  
She didn't really want him to know where she has been this afternoon. She still remembered how painful it was for him the first couple of weeks after her father's sudden disappearance. He and daddy were closest friends for a long time. They worked together and it was through him, that she met Angel. After they got married, they became even closer. Mr. Summers' disappearance has left Angel an emotional wreck in the following weeks.  
  
So she lied to him, trying to save him from going through the same, painful emotions again. She would find her father and bring him back home. Maybe then they will become a family again, just like it was before.  
  
"Shopping huh," He walked closer to her. "Where are the bags?" He grabbed her arm and twisted it painfully. "You wanna tell me another one?"  
  
"Angel, you're hurting me, let go!" She screamed. The maid heard her and ran to the open door, but he just glared at her letting her know that she was not welcome in there.  
  
Buffy somehow managed to escape from his grasp and shoved him back causing him to loose his balance and fall into his work desk. He looked at her in disbelief and then the look of pure hatred clouded his face. Angel jumped off of his desk and ran to Buffy with such speed that she had no time to react. He reached out his arm to her and grabbed her throat, shoving her against the bookshelves, and held her there for what seemed like an eternity.  
  
Buffy had to stand on her toes to keep from being choked by his large hand. She looked at him through hollow eyes, "go ahead...do it...it's not like you hurt me anyway." She said to her very drunk husband.  
  
Angels' speech was slurred when he spoke to her. "What are you talking about, you little bitch?" Making his grip on her that much tighter.  
  
Buffy was struggling to breath at this point and had to gasp for air.  
  
"You think you're all high and mighty, that the big Angel does nothing wrong. Well think again...I know your secrets." He suddenly released his hold on her and dropped his arm to his side.  
  
He put his face right in front of hers so she could feel his breath on her. "What are you talking about?" He hissed at her.  
  
She slowly walked around him, backing up as she talked. "You think I don't know...about your little whores?!" She screamed to him and his eyes became narrow, but she continued. "The late night phone calls? The cheap perfume smells that are not mine? Do I need to continue?"  
  
Angel stalked to her with such hatred in his eyes that Buffy thought she was going to die. That's when he did it. Angel pulled his arm back, and struck her with such force that she spun around and landed on the floor. Buffy raised her hand to her jaw to wipe the blood from her lip, and she turned to look at him.  
  
He took a couple of steps back from her, not because he was surprised at what he had done. He wanted to give her room to get up. He slowly raised his arm and pointed to the door.  
  
"Get the hell out of my site."  
  
Buffy slowly stood and faced him for a few seconds, and she was going to say something to him but thought better of it, so she walked toward the door. But when she got to the door she changed her mind. She turned and looked at him with cold, cold eyes.  
  
"I want a divorce." Was all she said before she turned to leave that horrible place.  
  
  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
The family dinner went pretty much without any accidents. Drusilla kept her mouth shut about the 'he's-not-ready-to-commit-yet' matter, as she never did. Maybe she figured out that Spike, or William, as he preferred to be called by her, was still a bit upset about her earlier outburst.  
  
So she acted like a good hostess would.  
  
She laughed at Giles' jokes, even though they were not funny to her at all. Maybe it was the english humor, William always told her, she didn't understand.  
  
She mentally shuddered when Anya started telling everyone her horrible day- at-work stories. She really liked Anya, but she always wondered what made Giles fall for this tall blonde and awfully straight-forward girl. True, she and Giles were in the police force. Giles being the head and owner of his own Detective Agency and Anya... well, Anya was a very beautiful 27 year old woman who worked as a coroner for the LAPD.  
  
And she was nice to Valerie. She knew that the girl didn't like her at all and thought that her older brother was simply wasting time with her, but she didn't say a word. She was the best hostess ever.  
  
William noticed her sudden change in behavior. Gone was the whiny, talkative and bitchy girlfriend. In her place sat the sophisticated, smart and intelligent woman - someone who he fell in love with all those months ago. He almost forgot that this person still existed. Dru made it very easy for him to forget.  
  
And now, she was sitting here back with him and his family. Joking, paying complements and being nice.  
  
He was scared. Something was about to happen, he could feel it. Dru was planning another attack and he started to mentally prepare himself for it.  
  
  
  
After everyone was gone he went back to the dining room and started gathering the wine glasses to be washed when he dropped one on the hardwood floor. It shattered startling him and Dru, who was passing by.  
  
"William, are you ok?" She asked concerned walking up to him and putting a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"S'all right luv. I just dropped a wine glass." He walked past her, shrugging her hand off. He returned shortly with a broom and a dust pan and proceeded to clean up the mess he made.  
  
  
  
Dru sat down on the couch and let out a big sigh.  
  
"William." She started after a few moments.  
  
Spike was sweeping the glass onto the dust pan when he heard the sigh...then his name. 'Oh god,' he thought, 'here it comes again.' So he just closed his eyes and let her continue.  
  
"William. Did you hear me?" She said as she got up to move in front of him so she could see his face.  
  
He stood up with the dust pan in his hands and looked at her.  
  
"Dru, lets not go into this again. I'm tired of having this conversation with you practically everyday as soon as I walk through the door."  
  
He walked past her again to dump the glass in the trash can. Before he reached the trash he turned around and added, "You know how I feel about it."  
  
"No I don't William." She exclaimed a bit hurtfully. "That's all you ever tell me, the fact that you're not ready for marriage. Or is it just the fact that you don't want to marry me?"  
  
He threw the dust pan along with the glass in the trash and spun around to meet her.  
  
"Don't you think that's enough of a reason..." He stopped in the middle of his sentence and looked at her. She was hurt. Maybe it was him. Maybe he was the one who was causing the pain. Maybe he was hurting her all along with his excuses. He sighed loudly and run a hand through his hair.  
  
"Baby, I'm sorry. I do care about you." Spike walked to her but she held out her hand to stop him. "I'm just not ready for marriage, that is a big step in a relationship, one that I'm not willing to take right now."  
  
"Please don't say what I think you're going to say, William."  
  
Dru was on a verge of tears again. Had he really hurt her that much? And all this time he thought he was the one who was constantly being hurt. He had to fix it as soon as possible. Not to cause her anymore pain.  
  
He took in a deep needed breath. "I don't think we can do this to each other anymore. You deserve someone who will make you happy, and I'm not that person."  
  
She started to cry and it made him walk to her and put his arms around her. But she didn't return the gesture.  
  
"Sshh, don't cry pet. You know I hate to see you cry." He lovingly told her, stroking and kissing her long dark curls.  
  
She looked up from his shoulder with pain in her eyes. "So I guess this is it then? Are you sure, because I can make you happy, I know I can."  
  
"I think it will be for the best for us. You deserve someone who could give you what I can't. And as much as it will hurt me to see you in some else's arms, I will be happy for you, pet. Because I care about you. I always will, baby." He lifted her chin and kissed her tear stained cheek. "You will always be my princess."  
  
And as Dru was sobbing quietly in his arms, he cursed himself for breaking yet another heart.  
  
  
  
  
  
tbc...  
  
________________________  
  
you know what we want... so, feedback us... it all depends on the reviews if we decide to write more... right now this is it...  
  
Boogee & Silver 


	5. FIVE

A/N: hehehe... hey there... *hides from rotten tomatos being flung at her* Glad to see you still love me... us, that is.. Boogee is as much guilty as I am. *points to Boogee standing next to her*  
  
Well, chappy 5 is here... not very good. Not beta-ed, lost my beta's addy... hehehehe... Elfgirl: email me, hon. I kind of lost your email addy... *wink, wink*  
  
Hope you like. Feedback is very much appreciated.  
  
Silver & Boogee.  
  
  
  
CHAPTER 5:  
  
  
  
  
  
Buffy was walking through the almost empty streets of Sunnydale not paying any attention to the occasionally passing person. She was far too engrossed in her own problems, like getting in touch with her lawyer about the divorce, for one. Things have gone way too far this time and frankly, she had enough. She has put up with Angel's abuse for years now. Even though that was the first time he hit her, he has always verbally abused her. Well not anymore, when her lawyer was through with him, He would wish he was never born, Buffy thought to herself and smiled.  
  
She was so caught up in the nice torturous images of Angel , that she didn't notice when a hand shot out from the dark alley she was passing and clasped on her mouth, preventing her from screaming, while the other one wrapped itself around her tiny waist and pulled her into the darkness.  
  
Sheer terror overcame her and she tried to scream, in vain. The suffocating feeling hit her like a ton of bricks and her heart was pounding in her chest as she tried to wrench herself from the steel grasp of her attacker.  
  
She felt herself being pulled deeper into the dark narrow alley and in a desperate attempt to free herself she bit the hand that was preventing her from screaming. The attacker let out a loud yelp and he momentarily let her go, cradling his bleeding hand to his chest.  
  
He didn't even have the time to register what was happening when Buffy spun around and kicked him in the groin as hard as she could, then punched him in the face when he bent in half from the shooting pain.  
  
"Bloody hell!" Her attacker was whimpering in agony. "You stupid bint! You broke me!"  
  
Buffy stood there terrified watching Spike sprawled on the ground, holding his jewels protectively, his lip split open and bleeding, and momentarily she felt bad for him.  
  
"Spike?" She approached him carefully, reaching down for him, but not touching him.  
  
"No. The Santa Bloody Claus!" he spat sarcastically. "What the hell did you do that for?!"  
  
The concerned look disappeared from her face quickly, she pulled her arm back from him "You... BASTARD!!!" She kicked him in the gut, and he gasped for breath.  
  
"Fucking... bitch..." He was struggling to speak. The bint had knocked the wind out of him. "What the bloody hell is your PROBLEM??!!! What crawled up your ass and died??!"  
  
He slowly lifted himself up from the ground, bruised, broken and bleeding. He shook his head trying to get rid of the dizziness that was overcoming him. He looked up to her and flinched involuntarily. If the looks could kill he would be a dead man now.  
  
She stood over him, proud of what she had done to him.  
  
"My PROBLEM??!" Buffy was fuming. "YOU are my problem! You almost gave me a heart attack!"  
  
She advanced on him again when he stood up, but this time he was prepared. He grabbed her fist that was flying dangerously fast at his face and twisted it behind her back, pressing her body to his. His breathing was heavy and ragged close to her ear and she felt a shiver run down her spine at his actions. She looked into his eyes and saw him smirking down at her. That stupid English snob was making fun of her! Probably getting his kicks out of situations like this one, she thought to herself.  
  
"Let... me... GO!"  
  
Buffy was trying to wrench her hand out of his grasp, but he would have none of that. He was hurt and tired, and he would probably be pissing sideways for the next week or so, but he would not take any more abuse from her.  
  
"Is that your way of saying 'thank you' for saving your skinny little ass'?" He hissed in her ear and pulled her even closer.  
  
"I said: LET. ME. GO." She said to him again.  
  
He stepped out of her personal space and let go of her, waving his hand for her a walk away. Instead of doing that, she hit him in the face again.  
  
"Bloody ... gaahh!!" He growled out between his teeth.  
  
Grabbing her again he pressed her tightly up against the cold wall, his face inches from hers.  
  
"Listen, you stupid bint. You are being followed.... I'm trying to shut you up and get you to hide. But your not helping matters much by making all this noise. So. Shut. Your. Hole." He tried to lower his voice to get her to do the same. But it didn't work.  
  
"I don't know what your problem is.. No wait. I do. You are a rude, obnoxious man, with no manners whatsoever and I don't like you. Now let me go, or I'll start SCREAMING!!!" She yelled the last word straight into his face and he let her go.  
  
"Fine. Go. Get yourself killed the minute you step out of this alley. What do I care."  
  
He stepped away from her, and she walked off, not failing to give him the evil eye before she left. He stood there watching her and muttering to himself when he heard footsteps closing from the around the corner. He stopped dead in his tracks, then spun around and sprinted in the direction Buffy marched off too. She didn't even notice him approaching when he grabbed her arm and turned her around.  
  
"What now?!" She almost screamed in frustration.  
  
"We gotta hide luv, Quick." he told her and started dragging her with him.  
  
Buffy wrenched her hand from his grasp and crossed her arms.  
  
"If you think I will go ANYWHERE with you out of my own free will, you are highly mistaken, Mr. Whirlington. You would have to drag me with you."  
  
Spike rolled his eyes and came up to her flashing her one of his trademark grins.  
  
"OK. That could be arranged."  
  
He smirked and in a flash he bent over and grabbed her small form and threw it over his shoulder. When she started screaming, he smacked her on the ass and she yelped more in a surprise than pain. He smiled at that.  
  
He quickly looked around for a place to hide them, and he grinned devilishly to himself when he spotted it, he ran to it and swung her from his shoulder to the half filled dumpster.  
  
Buffy landed with a big thud, and before she could register what was going on and where exactly she was she saw a mass of leather jumping in on top of her. She was about to let out another scream but the force of his body landing on hers knocked the breath out of her.  
  
Spike carefully reached up and closed the lid, leaning back down against her, trying very hard to concentrate on the approaching footsteps. He failed miserably. He was pressed against Buffy very intimately and her shallow and quick breaths were caressing his neck.  
  
He had to force himself from groaning when she started to wiggle beneath him. His eyes rolled back in his head when she buckled up, in an attempt to throw him off of her. He had to do something quickly before he embarrassed himself in front of her.  
  
"Will you stop bloody wiggling like that, woman?" He hissed into her ear.  
  
"You threw me into a dumpster!!! I am so going to kick your behind for that!"  
  
She buckled up again and pressed her breasts to his chest trying to lift herself up, and he groaned loudly.  
  
He looked into her eyes, "Listen, pet. If you don't stop this right now it will get really embarrassing and awkward in here." He tried to explain to her.  
  
'What..? What are you talk..." She stopped in the middle of her sentence and her eyes widened comically and her jaw dropped open when she felt something really long and hard poking at her thigh.  
  
Spike was grinning like an idiot. "Can't say I didn't warn you."  
  
"ohhhh... " she squeaked and he rolled his eyes.  
  
"Gross!!! Get off me, you pervert!"  
  
She shoved him hard to the side and his head bumped on the dumpster wall.  
  
He grabbed her a rolled over onto his back bringing her with him. He wrapped his arms around her middle and squeezed, holding her tight so that she wouldn't be able to get away.  
  
They both lay there, silent, staring at each other. Buffy noticed how intensively he was staring at her and she felt herself being pulled into his deep blue orbs that were hypnotizing her. She was very much aware of his state, she could still feel it on her thigh and she moistened her lips unconsciously. Spike growled at her actions. Their faces were only milimeters away and she ralized that she was slowly coming closer to his lips. Another second and she woud feel...  
  
"Shit! Now where in the hell did she go?"  
  
Both of them jerked their heads to the side at the sound of the voice right next to the dumpster.  
  
"Yeah it's me. Look I lost her...yeah I was careful...no she didn't see me...I don't know where she went, she just disappeared. What do you want me to do now?...yeah ok, I'll get back in touch with you."  
  
The man closed his cell phone and looking around once more he walked away into the night.  
  
They looked at each other again trying to proccess what they just heard, but not moving an inch from their places. Spike was the first one to make a comment.  
  
"Ehh, pet? I know that I am irresistable and you like to be pressed to my hot tight body like that, but you think we could maybe get out of here? Not that I am complaining and all, but this place is not very sterille."  
  
He waggled his brows at her and she jumped away from him frightened, like he was an Ebola virus. Spike grinned at her opened the lid and jumped out.  
  
He was busy picking out the trash stuck to his precious leather duster when he notice a very pissed of Buffy emerging from the dumpster. He chuckled when he saw the state she was in. He perfect hair was tussled and a piece of wrapper stuck in it, her expensive outfit was smeared with all kinds of nasty stuff and she had a piece of a sandwich plastered to her dress.  
  
"Awww..." he pouted, "why the long face, pet? Something wrong?"  
  
She glared at him shooting daggers, but it only made him grin even more. He watched her trying to climb out of the dumpster, her tight skirt preventing her to lift her leg up and thus making it impossible to get out. He walked up to her and offered his hand.  
  
"Come on, luv. I won't bite." He encouraged her.  
  
"I hate you." She muttered before she grabbed his hand. He lifted her up and in the process, got a glimpse of her pink thong. He set her on the ground, then stepped back a bit, trying to get all of the nasty thoughts out of his head. He watched her take out the stuff from her dress and hair.  
  
When she was decent enough she straightened up and put her hands to her side, clenching and unclenching her fists. Even though she had it bad for him, she still didn't like the way he acted.  
  
"We are so not over yet, Mr. Whirlington." She told him calmly.  
  
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever, princess. " He waved her off. "Now let's go. I'm going to take you home. My car is just around the corner." He took her arm but she jerked it away.  
  
"I think NOT!"  
  
"Pet, don't start with me. I am tired and bloody pissed of and my balls are the size of watermelons. All because of you. Now get your ass in the car and stop being so bloody stubborn!"  
  
This bint was getting on his last nerve. What the hell did it take for her to trust someone?  
  
She looked at him with a boring expression on her face, then casually flipped him off and walked away. 'I'm not going with him that easily', she thought to herself.  
  
Spike stood there for a few seconds then rolled his eyes at her for the umpteenth time this night and ran after her. She stopped., knowing was coming, and when he finally reached her and swung her over his shoulder she sighed loudly at his caveman bahavior and let herself be carried away.  
  
  
  
tbc...  
  
Feed us, people!  
  
Silver - silverflakez@earthlink.net  
  
Boogee - vdw@nuvox.net 


	6. SIX

Chappy SIX A/N: Chapter 6 is here. And you have to thank Boogee for that. I was so not in the mood to write, but she convinced me to do it anyway. What a pal, what a pal...  
  
Chapy is kind of short, but that's because the next one will be a bit longer... I am talking too much again... I'll shut up now.  
  
You read and review and we'll go back to writing...  
  
Silver&Boogee  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 6:  
  
  
  
Spike arrived at the office almost 2 hours late. Yesterday had been a real bitch to him. After dropping off a very pissed off Buffy at her house, he checked into a hotel where he spent most of the night pacing back and forth thinking about Dru, Buffy and this whole situation. Finally he fell asleep at around 5Am only to wake up 4 hours later and discovering that he was late for work yet again.  
  
The thick oak double doors to the agency swung open startling the employees inside. The ones who had worked there longer immediately recognized Spike's look and they hurriedly turned their heads back to their work, trying to avoid the death look on his tired face. The rest of them were either the new people or those who had a serious death wish.  
  
"Good morning, Mr. Whirlington. You are late today. Can I get you..."  
  
"Aspirin, and hot chocolate, Harm," Spike answered shortly, not even stopping or lifting his head up as he spoke.  
  
He just continued straight for his office until he collided with something rather big and hard. Spike's head snapped up to meet the person who obviously wanted to die today. A thick silence washed over the whole agency and everyone held their breaths, watching in anticipation.  
  
"Oh god! I'm sorry...so sorry, sir. I didn't mean to...are you hurt?"  
  
The guy Spike bumped into was looking at him apologetically as he tried to smooth the invisible wrinkles on Spike's duster. Everyone on the office gasped at the man's boldness.  
  
It took a moment for Spike to register what the man was doing before he slapped his hands away from him. He looked around the agency and everyone turned their heads back to their desks as he was sweeping his eyes on them. Then his gaze returned back to the man before him. He didn't recognize the man as one of the Giles' employees and he figured out he must be the new guy Rupert was telling him about some days ago. Spike decided to go easy on him, since he was new and had no idea what he was doing anyway.  
  
"No I'm fine. It takes more than that to hurt me." Spike said.  
  
The man let out a breath of air he was unconsciously holding and closed his eyes briefly.  
  
"Whoo... Thank God. I mean. I am so very sorry for that. This is my first day here and I am, like so nervous, you know? I just came here to LA from Iowa, like 2 weeks ago and I am so trying to make a good impression, you know? People around here are so nice to me. And they told me about this Spike dude." He lowered his voice and leaned closer to Spike. "They told me that he's a real asshole, that guy."  
  
Spike's brow arched at that but he kept quiet.  
  
"So, tell me, dude. Is he really that bad?"  
  
"Oh yeah. He's a real bitch. Especially when he's in one of his moods or he doesn't get enough sleep. You should stay away from him if you fancy your life and your jewels, mate." Spike supplied, mentally holding himself from chuckling out loud.  
  
"Gee... Thanks bro. I owe you one." He said putting his hand on Spike's shoulder. "My name is Riley Finn, by the way. I didn't catch..."  
  
"William. But I go by the name of SPIKE. Or ASSHOLE. I'm sure I have other nicknames, too. Hey. Maybe you could tell me more about that sometimes."  
  
Spike grinned widely as all the color from Riley's face washed out and he dropped his hand from Spike's shoulder.  
  
"Nice meeting ya, Finn. And welcome to our happy family. We are going to have so much fun together." He pinched Riley rather hard on the cheek and walked away, shutting his office doors behind him.  
  
"Dude. You are so dead." A man who was standing near walked up to Riley and patted him on the back, then walked away to his desk shaking his head in astonishment.  
  
  
  
  
  
Spike watched from his glass office as Finn sat at his desk and tried to look like he was working. He picked up some discarded papers and tried to staple them all together, but he couldn't get the stapler to work. The pile of papers he was holding was too thick. He put them back on the desk, slid the stapler beneath them, leaned over and putting both hands on the stapler he gave it a hard push. Satisfied when it clicked he put the papers away and stood up dragging the stapled case files with him, which were now dangling from his tie. He quickly sat back down and looked around to see if anyone was watching him. Fumbling around trying to get the staple out of his tie, he started jerking at the papers, and in the process he knocked his cup of orange juice over into his lap. When the cold liquid hit his privates, he jumped up shoving his chair backwards, and into another employee, causing him to slam into the wall. By the time Riley was making a mad dash to the bathroom with the case files still hanging from his tie and a fresh orange spot on his crotch, Spike was desperately clutching his stomach and gasping for breath as he laughed and laughed at the poor man's clumsiness. His good mood was quickly spoiled by Harmony who arrived with his aspirin and hot chocolate with tons of mini marshmallows.  
  
  
  
  
  
The thick oak double doors to the agency swung open startling the employees inside yet again as the small blonde figure stormed in, a murderous look on her face.  
  
Riley had just come back from the bathroom and was walking to his desk when he noticed Elizabeth walk in. She was truly the most beautiful person he has ever laid eyes on. He was openly staring at her now and he didn't care what other people thought of it. He was so entranced in her beauty he didn't notice the huge water dispenser he was approaching and he bumped into it, his huge, clumsy body easily knocking the 20 gallon plastic bottle out of it. In a mad attempt to rescue the water from spilling he dropped the case files he was holding and he grabbed the bottle and tried to balance it back onto the dispenser.  
  
The intoxicating aroma of vanilla and spices hit his nostrils as Elizabeth walked past him into Giles' office, not even sparing him a glance, and Riley groaned, momentarily distracted. The balancing bottle slipped out of his grasp and the water spilled on Giles' beloved, new carpet soaking everything on it within seconds, including the files he dropped a moment before.  
  
  
  
Spike's head shot up when he heard the loud voices outside his office, and grabbing some of the papers he was going to show Giles he walked out only to stop in his tracks at the sight in front of him.  
  
The carpet was soaked wet, the 20 gallon water bottle knocked on the floor and in the middle of it stood Riley Finn with his head in his hands, sobbing loudly, apologizing to hysterical Harmony. Her brand new suede shoes were soaked and probably ruined and she was screaming her little bleached head off at the poor Riley. The other employees were sitting on their desks, feet up on the chairs and laughing hard at the scene before them.  
  
"Poor bastard." Spike shook his head and not caring about his boots, walked past the hysterical pair into Giles' office.  
  
Before entering, however, he heard the loud snotty voice. "Bloody hell!" he cursed and rested his forehead on the door. He calmly counted down from ten to one, then taking in a deep breath he turned the knob and walked in.  
  
"I want him fired!" Buffy screamed to Giles. "Do you have any idea what he put me through last night?" Buffy walked to the desk and slammed her hands on it.  
  
Giles interrupted her, "I assure you, that...that what ever he did...he had good reason to."  
  
"Mr. Giles, he threw me into a garbage dump." She put her hands on her sides and was giving him this look of horror, and then turned to watch Spike walk through the door, not noticing the slight grin Giles gave him.  
  
"Buffy." Spike nodded and smirked at her.  
  
Buffy turned to Giles and pointed to Spike, "THIS?! This thing is your best agent?! Look at him! The way he dresses, his attitude," Buffy laughed when she said, "and that stupid hair."  
  
She fully turned to Spike and asked him, "Got carried away with the bleach, didn't ya?"  
  
Spike raised his eyebrow at her while Giles tried to calm Buffy down. "Mrs. Nelson, if you do indeed want your father found, then I highly suggest you keep Spike here as your agent." He stood up and walked around his desk and stood next to Spike. "He is the best this city has to offer, he will not let you down."  
  
They both were standing there looking at Buffy, waiting for her response.  
  
She took in a deep sigh, "Alright...alright. But he better not let me down, or I'll have his British ass on the grill. No offence, Mr. Giles."  
  
"Err... none taken..."  
  
Giles hardly had a chance to finish before Buffy stormed out walking between them knocking them off balance, leaving them staring at one another.  
  
Giles was the first to speak. "I don't even want to hear about the dumpster." He walked to his desk to sit down. He took out his handkerchief and started to furiously polish his glasses.  
  
Spike laughed at him, "Good...cause believe me, you don't want to hear it." And he walked toward the door and stopped and turned.  
  
"Something stinks here, Giles."  
  
"I.. I don't know what... what you're talking.. " Giles started to stutter, but Spike interrupted him immediately.  
  
"Angel. Mr. Poofy-Name. I had Val check up his record just in case. It's too clean. You worked in the force for a long time, pops. No one has a record THAT clean. I tell ya. Something stinks here really bad. I think I'm gonna give the bloody poofter a visit to see if he's really the good boy Miss Stake-Up-Her-Arse makes him out to be or if he's just a lying bastard."  
  
"Be careful, Spike. And please. Don't get yourself into any trouble, OK. I would like to see you tonight at dinner and not having to drive to the LAPD to bail you out. AGAIN."  
  
"Don't worry pops. I'll be there. Wouldn't miss Anya's horrific stories for the world! Oh. And you might wanna call the carpet cleaner also. New guy has been really active today." Spike grinned and walked out, a panicked and almost hyperventilating Giles hot on his heels.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
_________________________  
  
tbc... very shortly. Seriously, I'm not joking here. hey! Stop laughing! You better feedback us or we won't write no more... 


	7. SEVEN

Chapter 7:  
  
  
  
Pulling his car up to the same place he dropped Buffy off yesterday, Spike rolled down his window and pushed the button on the intercom by the steel gate.  
  
"Nelson residence, can I help you?" A squeaky heavy accented voice came through the small metal box.  
  
"Yeah, I'm here to see Mr. Nelson. The name's Spike Whirlington." He waited for a response.  
  
The tiny voice came back, and he could barely hear it this time. "Sorry sir, but your name is not on the list of appointments for today. You will have to call back later to make one." The intercom made a clicking sound, indicating it had been turned off.  
  
He merely rolled his eyes at that and casually walked out of the car and to the box. He saw Buffy punching in the code yesterday when he drove her home and decided to try it now. 'was it 2265 or 6625?' Scratching his blonde head he tried to remember the numbers. He punched in the first combination... then the second... then he just started punching in random numbers becoming more and more frustrated and the buzzing sound everything he hit the enter button. Giving up after almost 30 tries he hit the metal box with all his strength.  
  
"Bloody Hell!" He yelped in pain immediately clutching his hand to his chest.  
  
He looked at the box with hatred and was about to have a second go at it when it gave aout a clicking sound.  
  
"Oh, now you decide to click to me, huh?" He spoke to the box.  
  
This time a man's voice came over. "Sir, if you don't leave, we will be forced to call the police."  
  
"I AM THE BLOODY POLICE!!!" Spike yelled in frustration. There was silence on the other end for a moment, then he heard another click, this time coming from the gate.  
  
Pulling up to the enormous brick mansion he couldn't help but whistle in appreciation. The house was splendid. A three story old building finished in red brick; it had probably around 100 rooms. The English ivy vines were creeping up the walls and around the windows. The parking lot had about 15 different cars, he noticed. From Rolls Royce to Bentley, everything was here. Beautifully cared for gardens with trees and hedges trimmed regularly, ponds, tiny waterfalls, stone paths that led off to the back of the mansion. He couldn't even bring himself to think what the backyard had to look like.  
  
Stopping by the entrance he noticed a small Mexican woman standing in front of it, her nervousness clearly visible on her old and tired face.  
  
"Oh, how nice. Mr. Nelson sent out a welcoming committee." Spike smirked getting out of the car. "I feel so loved."  
  
The woman just smiled at him and moved aside gesturing for him to enter.  
  
  
  
"Follow me please." The maid stepped aside to let Spike through the door, then closed it behind him. "Please wait in the library over there." She pointed across the hall to a big room.  
  
"Thanks luv." He said while in the process of lighting a cigarette.  
  
"No...please no!" She said in a low whisper. "You can't smoke that in here. Mr. Nelson doesn't like the smell of smoke."  
  
Spike cocked an eyebrow at her and smirked and put the cigarette back in the pack. Then he turned to walk into the room.  
  
He figured it would be a coupe of minutes before "the royal one" would show up so he decided to have himself a look around.  
  
'No family photos...just him and some pictures of awards. Bloody strange.' He thought to himself.  
  
He walked around the large room touching the books that lined the shelves, then heard a crunching sound as one of his boots stepped on the floor. Before bending down for a better look, he took the pack back out and withdrew a cigarette from it and lit it, laughing at the look that Angel would give him because of it.  
  
He crouched down to pick up the glass. He could tell it was a drinking glass, it still had the smell of whiskey on it.  
  
"Can I help you with something?" The voice behind him asked. Still in his squatting position Spike slowly turned to him.  
  
"Yeah, I'm thinking you might be able to." He said looking at the man that spoke to him. "You must be the roy...I mean Angel. That right?" Spike asked him with a smirk on his face. "Nice digs you have here. Must have cost you a fortune. Where does a man get that kind of money...legally?"  
  
Angel crossed his arms on his muscular chest.  
  
"Mr Nelson to you." He flatly stated. "You must be", he chuckled, "Spike. And uh...you don't have an appointment, so you know where the door is."  
  
He turned to leave the library, but Spike's next words stopped him dead in his tracks.  
  
"Just wanted to ask you a few questions about your wife's father. How you knew him and what all."  
  
Spike chuckled when he noticed Angel frown. 'Bloody bingo' he thought. 'Knew it the ponce has some dirty secrets'. He stood up from his crouching position and walked casually to Angel's desk.  
  
"So, how 'bout it, mate? Gonna chat with me for a while?" He said running his fingers lightly over the edge of the wood.  
  
Fury visibly evident on his handsome face, Angel stalked toward the blonde man until he was only inches away from him.  
  
"First of all, I'm not your 'mate'. And just what are you doing here anyway? The case to my wife's father is closed." He snarled clenching his fists into a white balls.  
  
Spike didn't answer him, he just glared at him. Shoving his hands in his pockets Angel started pacing around the room.  
  
"What do you want to know? He was a business partner of mine. And my wife's father. We were very close, it killed me when he disappeared. Anything else?"  
  
"When was the last time you saw him?" Spike pushed on.  
  
The tall man glared at him for a moment, but seeing the resolved face he decided to just tell him what he wanted to know and hopefully get rid of him in time for dinner.  
  
He walked to the mini bar at the opposite end of the library and poured himself a generous amount of whiskey. He turned to the detective who was watching him closely, his head tilted a bit to the side, a very annoying smirk visible on his pale face.  
  
"Can I offer you some?" He gestured to the fully stacked bar, but Spike only shook his head in response still watching him with a growing interest.  
  
"Fine, suit yourself." He mumbled and drowned the liquid in one gulp.  
  
Spike arched his scarred brow a little at that. Angel poured himself another one then and sat in the chair next to the bar sighing loudly.  
  
"Oh fine, for God's sake. I'll answer your goddamn questions. Just make it quick. I have a family dinner to attend to. What do you need to know?"  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
Spike left the library with the frown on his face. Angel played his role well, acting all upset and angry and sad when he described Hank's disappearance. However he didn't say anything that Spike didn't already know. Either the ponce was telling the truth or he was a damn good actor.  
  
He ran a hand through his platinum blonde hair sighing loudly in frustration. 'I guess it's time for plan B' he murmured to himself as he started off towards the exit.  
  
Somewhere in the background he heard a door opening then closing, followed by a set of footsteps coming down the stairs. He stopped and turned around only to find...  
  
"Buffy?"  
  
A small gasp escaped her lips as she spotted him. She quickly lowered her head down and turned around ready to bolt right back upstairs.  
  
"Pet? Wait. Stop."  
  
He took off after her already retreating form. He met her in the middle of the stairs and grabbing her by the elbow he spun her around to face him. She almost lost her balance but he steadied her, holding her by her shoulders.  
  
"Mr. Whirlington. Please let me go. I... I must go." Buffy tried to wrench from his steel grip but he would have none of that.  
  
"Buffy, love. What's going on, pet?"  
  
He tried to look into her eyes but she still had her head averted from him, keeping it low and staring intently at the beige carpet covering the stairs. Tilting his head to the side he tried to see her face. "Come on, luv. Tell old Spike what's..." He frowned when he finaly got a glimpse of her and a sudden feeling of anger swept over him. His grip on her tightened and his jaw clenched.  
  
"Pet. Look at me." He said to her trying to control his emotions. When she wouldn't oblige he shook her none too gently. "I said: LOOK. AT. ME. NOW." Spike punctuated each word through his teeth.  
  
He heard a small sob escape her lips and when she finally lifted her head he had to close his eyes for a moment to collect himself and get his emotions in check.  
  
Purpulish bruise marred her whole left cheek, the swelling steadily creeping onto her beutiful face.  
  
"Buffy... what... what..."  
  
"It's nothing, William, really. You shouldn't be bothered by it." She interrupted him quickly.  
  
"Nothing? NOTHING??!! The bastard used you as a punching bag and you say it's NOTHING??!!" He yelled at her gripping her shoulders tightly.  
  
"What the hell is going on here?!" Angel came out of the library hearing Spike yelling in the hallway. "I thought our little te-ta-te was over, Mr. Whirlington! What the hell are you still doing..."  
  
Before he had a chance to say anything else Spike was on him, pinning him to the wall with a steel grip on his throat.  
  
"If you EVER as much as lay a finger on her again I. WILL. KILL. YOU." He gritted through his teeth.  
  
Somewhere in the distance he heard Buffy begging him not to hurt Angel. He shoved the brunette harder against the wall, then released him and stalked away.  
  
'Gotta leave now. Gotta leave now. Gotta leave now before I kill the bastard' he repeated to himself as he grabbed the door handle and almost ripped it off as he walked out of the mansion and to his car.  
  
  
  
A/N: Sorry for the delay. been working day and night on Spuffy Archives... but it's finally open!!! http://www.spuffyarchives.com/ see it for yourself! And if you have any stories that qualify for the site, feel free to submit them! Remember, site accepts ONLY S/B FANTASY FICS! (human Spuffy)... Chapter 8 coming soon! 


	8. EIGHT

Chapter 8:  
  
"I mean, who the hell does this guy think he is? He comes into my home, and starts asking me all those questions..." Angel was pacing the length of the library, his voice rising with every word he spoke.  
  
"Well, what did you tell him?" A male voice answered from the phone speaker.  
  
"I told him nothing!" Angel yelled in the direction of his desk. "I mean, I told him some shit about the house and Hank... you know. The usual police crap." He stalked to the mini bar and poured himself a generous amount of scotch. "Just because he's some kind of 'detective' doesn't mean I'm gonna tell him the story of my life, you know?" He gulped down his drink and put the glass down with a loud 'clunk'. "Prick." He mumbled more to himself than to the person on the phone. "Actually, William Whirlington is a professional..."  
  
"And get this!" He interrupted the person not even noticing him speaking. "Then he has balls to come up to MY WIFE and comfort her??!!" Angel snarled turning suddenly and stalking towards the phone. "No one comes up to my wife and comforts her! SHE HAS HER HUSBAND TO DO THIS!" He leaned to the speaker. "I AM HER FUCKING HUSBAND!" He yelled right into it.  
  
"Jeez, man. Chill. You need to lay off the booze, 'cause..."  
  
"Don't you fucking tell me what to do, you asshole!" Angel pounded his large fist on the desk causing the phone to jump up. "I'm gonna come there to talk this out with you, and you better have a plan to get this British piece of shit off my back.. no. OUR BACK. You got it?"  
  
"Oh man. You can't come here. You know the rules..."  
  
"Fuck the rules. And fuck you!" Angel yelled to the speaker and punched the 'end' button violently, almost braking it. "Son of a bitch." He started talking to himself loudly. "Telling me I can't come there. Who the fuck he thinks he is?!"  
  
He ran a hand through his thick black hair and sighed loudly. Then he grabbed his car keys and walked out of the library and the house.  
  
He never noticed the blonde figure hiding behind the utility closet doors, listening carefully to his strange conversation.  
  
*****************  
  
Anya walked out of the kitchen into the living room, where Giles was sitting on the couch reading the newspaper. She came up to her husband and giving him a loving peck on the forehead.  
  
"Honey, would you please set the table while I go change for dinner?" She asked him, already halfway up the stairs to their bedroom.  
  
"Y-yes of course dear."  
  
Giles folded the paper back in its proper order and stood up and walked to the kitchen. Anya always insisted on using their best china every time Spike and Valerie came over for dinner. Not that Giles was complaining. He was thrilled that her and his 'kids' were getting along so well. They both adored Anya even though her work stories caused nausea and general queasiness and would leave them all freaked out for the next couple of days.  
  
Anya, on the other hand, was telling them without much of an interest, dropping a word about a disfigured body of the week into the conversation like it was nothing special, just 'something that happened at work today', and leaving them all speechless with their jaws dropped open.  
  
That was his Anya. A painfully straightforward woman who happen to be cutting up bodies for a living. And he loved her to no end.  
  
***********  
  
The door to the coroner's office opened and Valerie Whirlington walked out, shuffling through the papers on the autopsy of the dead girl found in the dessert.  
  
"... natural causes??" She was mumbling absently to herself, nose deep in the papers as she was making her way to her office. "What the bloody hell was she doing out there?"  
  
Coming out of a corner she didn't notice a large dark haired man approaching her rather quickly and before she could react they collided, scattering the autopsy papers all over the place.  
  
"Oh bloody hell, why don't you watch where you are going." She told the man as she bent down to pick up the papers she had dropped.  
  
"Sorry about that ma'am, I guess I wasn't... watching." The man apologized to her bending down to help her with the paperwork.  
  
"Yeah. I noticed." She replied coldly and grabbed the remaining of the papers from his large hand.  
  
"May I ask you... what is such a beautiful woman doing in a place like that?" He cocked his brow to her and sent her one of his 'sexy' smirks, which to Val looked more constipated than sexy, and she had to stifle a snort when he puffed his chest at her. Anytime now she suspected he would start making weird high pitched noises and start his mating ritual dance. God, he was ridicules, she thought.  
  
"Um... I read it once in the encyclopedia.. I think it's called 'WORKING'. " She answered him and almost rolled her eyes when he unsuccessfully tried to slip his wedding band off his finger without her noticing it.  
  
"Listen, I gotta go. I have lots of work to do. It was nice to umm... well... I gotta go. Bye now." She passed him and started walking away.  
  
"Hey! Would you like to go out for a cup of coffee maybe?" He called out to her retreating form and she stopped sighing loudly.  
  
"Are you coming on to me?" She asked straightforward turning to face him and giving him the 'you-are-the-most-boring-person-on-earth-I-wish-you- would-just-go-and-die' look.  
  
"Well, yes. Is it working?" He asked as he walked up to her, crowding her and she had to step back.  
  
She snorted very unladylike and then erupted into a full laugh. "Yeah right. Dream on. To tell you the truth... you're way too gay for me, mate."  
  
The look on his face was priceless and she allowed herself one more laugh before she just walked away, shaking her head in disbelief at his pathetic attempts.  
  
The man was standing there with his jaw wide open for a while, trying to catch on to what had just happened, then he shrugged it all off and started walking in the other direction. He pulled his ring back out of his pocket and placed it on his finger. "Your loss sweetcheeks." He mumbled to himself already forgetting about the incident.  
  
He watched as another woman walked toward him, so he again took off his wedding band and placed it in his pocket. As the woman got closer he stepped forward to her.  
  
"Hey there darling. Boy, you must be real tired because you've been running through my mind all day." He said to her.  
  
The woman rolled her eyes at him and continued to walk. "Not even if you were the last male on earth and the future of the whole human race depended on our copulation. I wouldn't even touch you with a ten foot pole." She flatly stated and walked away shaking her head.  
  
He had embarrassed himself once again and put his hand in his pocket. "Ok...maybe some other time then." He yelled out to her, trying to preserve what dignity he had left.  
  
*********************  
  
Giles finished setting the table after a while and went back to the living room to finish the paper when there was a knock at the door.  
  
"Spike, good to see you." Giles welcomed his 'son' when he opened the door and gave him a fatherly hug before letting him into the apartment.  
  
"Pops. Good to be seen." He answered walking in and hanging his duster in the closet. Giles noticed his worried expression and furrowed his brow a little.  
  
"Um.. Is everything..."  
  
"I've been a good boy, pops." Spike quickly interrupted. "No need to worry your already balding head about it. We don't want you to loose any more hair now, do we?" He grinned devilishly as he ducked a hand that was making its way to his head to swat him for his comment.  
  
"No, we don't. Not that I have anything against a bald man, I'm sure Rupert would look dead handsome even if he was a red head." Anya walked down the stairs already dressed up. "Besides I read in this magazine that bald men are better in bed and they perform longer... which would work out pretty good then, because I would get twice as much sex... so, please, worry him quickly so that he looses his hair and I can have lots of orgasms." She walked up to Spike and gave him a hug. "Spike. Good to see you again. Dinner is almost ready, just give me another 5 minutes." She said and walked out into the kitchen leaving both men gaping at her with their jaws wide open. "Honey, why don't you open a bottle of wine, please?" She yelled from the kitchen, matter of fact.  
  
"Ehh.. Right. Of course, dear." Giles shook his head and walked up to the wine rack, and busied himself with picking a wine for the dinner.  
  
"Is Val here yet? I have something I want to talk to her about." Spike asked making himself comfortable on the black leather sofa.  
  
"Oh good lord Spike, can't we just go one night without talking about work?" Giles scolded his 'son' and turned to him with a winning bottle of fine red liquid. He picked out two long glasses and pouring the wine into both he gave one to Spike.  
  
"Can't help it pops, it's in my blood." He wriggled his eyebrows at him and dipped his lips into the fine rich red liquid tasting it on his tongue for a moment before swallowing.  
  
********************  
  
Val was sitting at her desk, head buried in her hands, gentle fingers massaging her aching temples. Today was not a good day. She still didn't have a lead on her latest baddie. To top it all, another skinless female body was found, and all clues pointed to the same psycho who had been keeping her awake at night for the past 4 weeks.  
  
She sighed loudly and looked at the clock, red, blinking numbers reminding her of a family dinner she was supposed to be at. Hurrying to get to Giles' house on time she grabbed her things and sprinted out of her office, shutting the doors behind her.  
  
She walked into the elevator, pushed the button and waited patiently for the doors to close when out of the corner of her eye she saw something familiar.  
  
She turned her head in the direction of the rising voice and saw the same man who was coming on to her today, walking out of Xander Harris' office. He was gesturing wildly and yelling something.  
  
"I don't care! I want you to clean it up, understand?! YOU fucked it up, YOU clean it up!..." was the last thing she heard before the elevator closed its doors with a silent swoosh.  
  
Val shook her head in confusion. So much was going on in this building nowadays and if she decided to care about everything her head would explode. Putting the whole weird, one-sided conversation she sort of witnessed behind her, she slumped against the steel wall of the elevator and closed her eyes briefly.  
  
"I don't care." She repeated to herself loudly. "I just want to eat." Walking up to the control panel she started pushing the button furiously. "Come on, you wanker. Hurry it up! I want to go home!" She whined to the metal box.  
  
Yep. Spike and her were definitely alike.  
  
***********  
  
"So, did you catch the game Monday night?" Spike asked Giles who was sitting on the couch reading the front page of the newspaper.  
  
Giles looked up from the paper, "You know I don't watch that silliness. All those men running around with the helmets and shoulder pads. Why don't they play a real mans' game?"  
  
Spike raised an eyebrow at him urging him to tell exactly what he considered a 'real man's game'. Giles rolled his eyes and dropped his paper into his lap,  
  
"Rugby!" He returned the paper in front of his face.  
  
Spike burst out laughing and slapped his leg. "Yeah, I know...it's no rugby, but I still wouldn't mind making that kind of money. And why do they make so much money anyway? They don't do anything I couldn't do. I mean, any idiot can run with a ball toward a big goal." He stared at Giles waiting for an answer.  
  
Giles slowly lowered the paper down to his nose and looked at Spike with crazy eyes and started to laugh at him for thinking such nonsense. Spike started to laugh at him self also, and was going to say something else when there was a knock on the door.  
  
"I'll get it!" Anya yelled as she came running down the steps to the door. She opened it, reveling Val. "Valerie!" She stepped out to give her a hug and dragged her in the house. "It's about time you got here, I was getting tired of hearing them talk about their stupid man games." Anya flatly stated.  
  
"Yes, I'm finally here. I had some trouble down at the office." She told them as she let Spike remove her coat and hung it up in the coat closet.  
  
"Nothing you can't handle sis, I'm sure." Spike said to her as he stepped in front of her and gave her a big brotherly hug.  
  
"You know me brother...always the big mouth." She answered. "Hey, papi." She turned to Giles hugging him tightly.  
  
Spike snickered and walked away to pour her a glass of wine while she made herself comfortable on the oversized chair.  
  
"Dinners ready. Lets eat." Anya's voice came from the dinning room a while later, and they all walked in getting ready for another family meal.  
  
************  
  
The food Anya prepared was delicious. Roasted duck in orange sauce, potatoes, various vegetables and fruit platter. Everyone was enjoying it, lightly conversing while munching on the finger licking goodies.  
  
"We had a funeral today. It was that guy you found in the river last week." Anya looked at Val and told her. "We had to keep the casket closed because the body was so decomposed and stuff." Everyone stopped and looked up from their plates to her.  
  
"Um, Anya dear," Giles lightly touched her hand, "I thought we agreed not to discuss work at the dinner table."  
  
"No Rupert, you agreed not to talk about it, I just listened to you talk." Anya tightly squeezed his hand. Giles stared at her with wide eyes.  
  
Spike and Val were looking at the spectacle in front of them, grinning like two children watching their parents argue.  
  
Valerie was the first one to break this friendly dispute. "You won't believe what happened to ME at work today." She started.  
  
"Did you find another skinless body?" Anya piped in cheerfully.  
  
"Umm... yeah.. but that's not quite what I was going to talk about." She gave the visibly disappointed Anya an apologizing look before she continued. "This... large... unbelievably boring bloke tried to come on to me while I was heading to my office. God. I never met anyone so boring in my whole life. I swear. I barely swapped two words with him and I was ready to pop my brains out if only that would shut him up." She finished rolling her eyes at the dreadful experience earlier at work.  
  
Spike snorted at his sister. She was a real firecracker, that one.  
  
"Oh. Was it that bad?" Giles asked wanting to hear more.  
  
"Bad? No.. It was horrifying. So bloody horrifying it was almost funny, but not quite. And get this: He was married!"  
  
"Are you serious?" That came from Spike.  
  
"Damn right I am. I saw him taking his wedding band off before me. He wasn't very stealthy, I tell you that." She sighed loudly and started picking on her food. "And then I saw him coming out of Xand's office all pissed off and yelling... something about cleaning up the mess... I don't like Xander. I don't think he's good news." She finished that more to herself than to the others.  
  
"Really? Cleaning up the mess?" Spike's interest piped in. "What exactly did he say, Val?"  
  
She put away her fork and thought for a bit. "Umm... I think it was something along the lines of..."I don't care... I want you to clean it up... umm... You fucked it up, you clean it up... Sorry for the 'f' word, papi." She sent Giles a wide grin before turning to Spike. "Why you ask?"  
  
By this time dinner was the last thing on Spike's mind. He sat straight and looked intensively at his sister.  
  
"Val, pet. I want you to tell me what exactly did he look like, OK? Please, it's important."  
  
"Spike, what's going on?" Giles asked carefully, sensing a dramatical change in his son the minute Val mentioned the conversation.  
  
Spike ignored him completely, concentrating on Val. "Was he about six feet tall... dark hair... lots of gel...?"  
  
Val was looking from Giles to Spike, confusion visibly painted on her face. "... brown eyes... very large... yeah. That's him... Who is he Spike?"  
  
"Spike?" Giles asked his son worriedly.  
  
"Bloody Hell..." He sighed, then looked at everyone. "Angel. Angel Nelson."  
  
"A...Angel?? Buffy's Angel? THE Angel??" Val started babbling all of a sudden.  
  
"Pillock has something to hide, I knew it!" He stood up and started walking to the coat closet. "Bloody Hell.. why didn't I see it before?"  
  
All of them were after him in an instant.  
  
"Where are you going?"  
  
"Spike, don't do anything stupid."  
  
"You're missing my desert. I made a chocolate mousse!"  
  
They started asking, but he was already out of the door.  
  
*******************  
  
It was already getting dark when a very drunk and a very pissed off Angel walked into his house, swaying from one side to the other.  
  
His earlier visit at Harris' office did not bring anything new. He managed to scare the boy and almost made him cry, but he couldn't really tell if he accomplished anything by it.  
  
"Fucking bitch. 'sall her fault." He slurred to himself as he was making his way up the stairs. "Time to teach'er a lesson... we'll see how the birdie will sing in the morning..." He dragged himself up to the second floor and proceeded to Buffy's bedroom.  
  
"ELIZABETH!" He yelled to the almost empty house. "Where the hell are you, you little piece of nothing?!"  
  
  
  
_______  
  
TBC... don't worry kiddies... next chapy is almost ready... ;) now, don't be party poopers and review OK??? 


	9. NINE

Chapter 9:  
  
The bleached blonde figure was sitting in the chair behind his desk, the redish end of his burning cigarette the only source of light in his office. He didn't find the need to turn on any other lights. He liked it dark. He always did. It helped him think.  
  
He was sitting here, in the same position for over 4 hours now, his brain working the loose ends of the Nelson/Summers puzzle. He went through everything he knew, everything he heard and come up empty handed. The only clue was the fact that Valerie saw Angel talking with some cop and being very unsatisfied. That could mean anything. It could be not related to the case at all, and of course there was the possibility of him and Val talking about two totally different persons. After all she didn't even know what the bloke looked like.  
  
He sighed loudly and buried his head in his hands. He would have to work harder, talk to some more people, sniff around the mansion some more too. Maybe talk to Buffy again.  
  
At the thought of her name her beautiful face appeared in his mind and he remembered how scared and bruised she looked earlier that day. Sudden wave of anger swept over him and he unconsciously clenched his fists into tight white balls, then a wide grin spread on his handsome face when he thought of the ways he could make Angel pay for his little act of violence.  
  
He was jerked out of his gruesome thoughts of torture by the loud fumbling of the doorknob on the main doors to the agency.  
  
As stealthy as he could, he walked out of his office and taking his ever present gun out of the holster and stood behind the doors, ready for anyone who attempted to get in.  
  
The doorknob turned itself couple more times and then the doors were open. Spike held his breath as the person pushed the door wider covering him, and stepped inside the dark office, stopping after two steps to look around. He took it as his clue to show himself and lifting his gun he pressed it to the person's temple, the loud cocking of the weapon piercing the silence.  
  
"I don't know who you are, but you must have a serious death wish. You have five seconds to explain yourself and I better believe it, or your brains will be all over this pretty wall." Spike said calmly to the intruder and waited for him to speak.  
  
"...four... three... two..."  
  
"Don't hurt me, please." He heard in almost a sob. Something about the voice screamed 'familiar' and he furrowed his brows. Reaching the light switch on the wall he flicked it on and swore to himself at the sight before him.  
  
"Bloody hell, Buffy?" He lowered the weapon and put it away before grabbing her shoulders and turning her to face him. "Pet, what the hell are you doing here at this hour? You could have been dead by now, for fuck's sake."  
  
A silent sob escaped her and she lowered her head in shame. It was true. What she did was stupid and risky but she had to get out of that house. She had to get away from him...  
  
"I.. I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, William." She broke this time and sobbed loudly, letting herself being pulled into his strong comforting arms.  
  
He held her tightly, caressing her hair, whispering soothing words to her ear, rubbing lazy circles on her back. He was confused. Why would she risk Angel's wrath again by coming here? Why would she... He stopped suddenly and pushed her away from his arms.  
  
"Pet? What happened? What did he do to you now?" His jaw was clenched and he was trying very hard not to explode. If that bastard touched her again he swore to himself he would kill him this time.  
  
She wouldn't meet his eyes so he lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him. She still wouldn't look at him, but he was now able to see her full face. Thank God, there wasn't anything new on it.  
  
"Buffy, you gotta tell me what happened? Why did you come here?" He asked her again.  
  
She sighed and stifled another sob that was threatening to come out, and met his eyes for the first time this evening.  
  
"I.. I saw your car outside.. I thought you would be here... I had to see you.. to tell you.. what I heard..." She explained quietly.  
  
He sighed and nodded lightly before leaning in and resting his forehead against hers. "It's going to be OK, pet." He murmured to her quietly. "Everything's going to be OK, I promise."  
  
She barely nodded.  
  
"Come on. Let's get into the office. We can talk there." He pulled her by the hand and closed the office door quietly behind them.  
  
********************  
  
"My life is such a circus. I feel like I'm living in some weirded out Venezuelan soap opera." She sighed as she flipped another card in the direction on the waste basket. In.  
  
After two hours of talking they were now sitting on the floor, their backs propped against the glass doors of the office. A single metal trash can was standing in the middle of the dimly lit room, three decks of cards scattered around it. Some in the basket, some as far as the opposite wall.  
  
"Oh, come on, luv. Think positive. If it all turned out the other way you would have never met me." He smirked at her and sent his card to the basket. In.  
  
"Yeah... I'm real lucky to know you, Spike. Jeez... look at me hopping up and down from joy." She said sarcastically picking up another card. Missed.  
  
"I love you too, princess." He bit back. Another card. In.  
  
"I don't even like you." She stated tiling her head to the side a bit. Another card. Missed.  
  
"You're lying." He turned his head to her.  
  
A sigh. Another card. "I know." In.  
  
"Yeah..." Grin. Another card. In.  
  
Another card. In.  
  
Another card. In.  
  
Another card. In.  
  
"Come on luv, it's almost 2AM. I better get you home before your psycho hubby decides to have another go at you." He smirked at her when she shot him a deadly glare, but let herself be lifted off the floor.  
  
She straightened her clothes and waited patiently for him to turn off the lights and close the office door before they both headed outside.  
  
  
  
When they reached the outside door, Spike opened it for her and swept his hand out for Buffy to go first. "After you 'mlady." And gave her a bashful grin.  
  
"Why, thank you kind sir." She smiled back at him. Buffy began to walk out when she suddenly jumped back inside bumping into Spike in the process, causing him to grab hold around the front of her waist so she would not fall.  
  
He couldn't help but rub his nose lightly on the top of her head and smell her hair. It smelled of strawberries. He lowered his head to where his mouth was near her neck and stopped. "What is it luv? Did you see someone outside?"  
  
Buffy closed her eyes and sighed at his actions. "No..." She let out almost a squeak. Then a more powerful "No. It's just that it's raining out there." She turned to look at him. "When did it start raining?" She asked.  
  
"I don't know." Spike stepped around Buffy and walked outside into the downpour.  
  
"Um, William what are..."  
  
"Spike. We've been over that already pet." He turned to her, his platinum hair plastered to his face.  
  
She started again. "Spike, what are you doing? You're going to get sick. Come back in." Buffy stood at the door entrance worried expression on her face. She was worried? About Spike?  
  
"What's the matter luv, you never played in the rain when you were little?" He walked to her and took hold of her tiny hand in his. "Come on, you know you want to." He looked at her and wiggled his eyebrows.  
  
She looked behind him outside into the dark night. It was pouring. Like it never had before. She sucked her lower lip into her luscious mouth, then looked at him, smirking down at her, still holding her hand but not pulling her out. Just waiting for her permission.  
  
Finally she gave him a slight nod and felt herself being pulled to him. A curtain of freezing cold shower enveloped her the second she stepped outside and she let out and involuntary squeak trying to duck her head before the merciful rain.  
  
She ran into his arms and tried to wriggle herself into him as far as she could. He laughed at her childish behavior and purposively stepped out. Every time she tried to come closer to him to hide herself inside his warm duster he would step away from her. They ended up chasing each other all over the parking lot, the rain and their problems quickly forgotten, only their laughter echoing through the empty space.  
  
Finally they reached her car and stopped in front of it. She closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the cold water on her face. She sighed deeply and opened them up again only to be met by Spike's blue orbs staring right into hers. She gulped suddenly and her heart started racing.  
  
"What were you thinking about?" He finally asked.  
  
"Nothing. Just thinking about how good this feels. To be able to be free, to do what ever you want and not care about anything in the world. God, I miss that." She answered him.  
  
She looked so beautiful to him then, he couldn't help himself. He reached out and touched her cheek, caressing it slightly, running his thumb over her delicate skin. She sighed and leaned into his hand, nuzzling it.  
  
That threw him for a loop. He expected her to hit him or possibly swat his hand away but not actually lean into his touch. He swallowed a lump that was forming in his throat.  
  
"Pet..." He whispered quietly.  
  
She lifted her head to look into his eyes and smiled reassuringly. Rising on her toes she brushed his lips with hers. Shocked, Spike pulled away trying to figure out her intentions. He saw her smile to him and then her lips were back on his, this time more daring. And when he felt her tongue trace his bottom lip he groaned and opened up for her. He closed his eyes as he slowly kissed her back, his skilled tongue playing lazily with hers, his hands entwined in her soaked hair. When her hand came to rest on his cheek he sighed. He felt it caressing him, the cold metal of her wedding band...  
  
Suddenly he pulled out and stepped away from her like he was burned. Her wedding band. She was married! He's been kissing a married woman!  
  
She looked at him in confusion, her rosy lips bruised from the kiss, the rain pouring down on her, and she tilted her head to the side, waiting for his explanation.  
  
"Buffy..." He started. God, she was so beautiful. He shook his head and ran a hand through his wet hair.  
  
"Buffy, we shouldn't be doing this." He told her holding her by the shoulders. "You're... you're married for God's sake." He let her go and turned away from her. "Oh God, what am I doing?"  
  
The tears in her eyes came fast now. She didn't expect that to happen.  
  
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset. I just..." Sob. "I just thought..." Her words were stopped by Spikes finger, placed softly on her lips.  
  
"It's ok luv, if things were different between you and me, If you weren't married." Spike told her once again.  
  
She sighed and nodded. He opened the car doors for her and waited for her to get in. He prayed she do it fast, because anytime now he was going to lose the rest of his good manners and, married or not, he would take her right there and then.  
  
"Yeah, if things were different." She said looking into his eyes for some kind of sign. Anything. When he looked away she understood. Lowering her head she sighed and got in. He shut the door after her and watched her drive away.  
  
Slowly. Painfully slowly.  
  
Then the car stopped. And so did his heart.  
  
He watched her getting out and shutting the doors behind her. He took an involuntary step in her direction. So did she. Step after step they walked into each other until they were only inches apart. Two hearts were beating fast in their chests as they looked at one another for the longest time. Then, without as much as a single word their mouths crashed into each other kissing furiously like it was the end of the world, their tongues fighting for domination.  
  
He wrapped his arms around her little waist and lifted her up to him, hungry for her, taking everything she was offering and giving the same. They continued their silent battle as the rain enveloped them, trying it's best to wash their fears and sorrows away.  
  
TBC... More to come soon.. Really... 


End file.
